The Mystical Spellbook of the Imperial Wizard
The Mystical Spellbook of the Imperial Wizard is the 94th episode of Legends of the Hidden Temple. The teams had to use a rope to swing out to a suspended cargo net, then climb over that and wade through the rest of the Moat, one player at a time. One of the greatest rulers of ancient China was Emperor Wu Ti. He loved the arts, and shadow theater was created for him. Legend has it that Wu Ti's wife, Ling Ling, passed away, and the distraught emperor summoned his wizard. "You must use your magical powers to return my wife to me!" "But that's impossible! Besides, you could marry any woman in the land! Here's Ring Ling, she's lovely! Here's Wing Ding, she's darling!" "I want Ling Ling! Return her in 24 hours or I'll do away with you!" The terrified wizard returned to his cave and consulted his mystical spellbook. "Now let's see… Spells to make boils… Spells to cure boils… Children into chickens' feet… Nope, no cure for death." But the crafty wizard came up with a plan… "Wizard, your time is up! Where is my wife?" "Here, my lord, behind this screen." The lights were dimmed, and the shadow of a beautiful woman appeared on the screen… "Ling Ling!" It wasn't really Ling Ling, but the emperor was comforted nonetheless— so much, in fact, that he promoted the wizard to Grand Vizier, a cushy desk job. His spellbook ended up in the Temple. The Green Monkeys are Katie, who plays soccer and wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, and Jared, whose favorite subject is science and wants to become a pro basketball player. The Silver Snakes are Larissa, who plays baseball and wants to be an actress, and Mike, who likes to swim and wants to be an astronaut. Coded Path to the Wizard's Cave (Sinking Steps) The first game pitted Katie against Mike in a race to find the entrance to the wizard's cave by figuring out the coded path through a bamboo swamp. The game could be seen as unfair because players could potentially get away with skipping the first platform or just retrace their opponent's steps to win, but this episode demonstrated another rule: Even if you did not ride a sinking platform all the way to the floor, you still had to go back and start over if you found out you stepped on the wrong one. At the :39 mark, Katie took her foot off the platform in front of her just as she realized it was going to sink, but she still had to restart… hitting her shins against the starting platform as she tried to jump onto it. Nevertheless, a mistake by "Jared" on the last step meant that Katie made it across and won with four seconds remaining. Magical Ingredients (Cubbyhole Web) The second game required the other players to grab magical ingredients attached to a large cargo net and bring them back down (while this game usually featured objects hidden in the cubbyholes around the edges, that was not the case here). Almost immediately, Larissa dropped her first item behind the net; Jared was faster in collecting his items, but the sixth and final ingredient he had to collect fell behind the net as well; it was ruled that they could collect the ingredients that fell behind the net last, so ultimately it came down to whoever could run around the net fastest to grab the item. Predictably, Jared managed to get his last ingredient in the bin first with four seconds left, with Kirk admitting he made it look dramatic. Either way, the Green Monkeys, now had one Pendant, while the Silver Snakes had yet to score. Shadow Theater Screen (Big "E" Wall) The final game was explained as the team players having to "shadow each other" and escape from a giant shadow theater screen. Both teams had their share of difficulty with this one, but the Green Monkeys managed to make it through the turns a bit faster. They made it out with nine seconds left, while the Silver Snakes had one more U-bend to travel through to the finish. As a result, the Green Monkeys completely shut out the Silver Snakes and were going to go to the Temple with two full Pendants of Life. Most Temple Runs where one player is a noticeably better Temple Runner than the other feature the boy as the better contestant, but it looks like it was vice versa here. Jared was a little hesitant as early as the Crypt, and the skeletons' live snarls (the usual "LET GO!!" and "GET OUT OF HERE!!", which were almost always added in later along with the sound effects) as he pulled on their books probably did not help matters. The only door that opened was the door to the Ledges; he delayed a little there, but continued onto the Pit of the Pendulum, where he knocked over the column with his bare hands after bit of confusion, opening the doors to both the Chamber of the Sacred Markers and the King's Storeroom. Jared climbed up the wall fairly swiftly, then went up into the King's Storeroom (the Chamber must have hidden the only Temple Guard they did not encounter and probably would have only led upward, so this was a lucky decision). After having the worst luck possible in the Storeroom (not counting production defects, that is), Jared met his first Temple Guard in the Room of the Ancient Warriors. It took him a little while to realize the door had already opened, but thankfully he did not try the other armors, so it could have been worse. The decision that definitely killed the Temple Run, however, was that after Jared put together the Silver Monkey with 1:14 on the clock, he went down into the Dark Forest rather than the Quicksand Bog— the door directly into the Room of the Secret Password did not open. He spent roughly 15 seconds looking for a key which he did not need, then finally went through the wall into the Bog, where Temple Guard #2 took him out with 47 seconds on the clock. Katie, however, did an impressive job of making up for lost time— although she did not start directly in the Ledges, she used the diagonal passage from the Shrine to save time. However, time still expired just before she could climb onto the Pharaoh's Secret Passage. Had Jared gone directly into the Quicksand Bog from the Shrine, that would have saved about twenty seconds— most likely enough time for Katie to grab the Mystical Spellbook. It was a nail-biter, but disappointing in the end. The Mystical Spellbook of the Imperial Wizard Part 1 The Mystical Spellbook of the Imperial Wizard Part 2 * This episode was taped on February 26, 1995. * This is the third episode where an artifact was placed in the Top Corner and the contestants was denied access to the room from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. The first two being The Medal of Sir Edmund Hillary and The Mush Pot Hat of Johnny Appleseed. * The second temple guard's appearance makes it the first time that two separate temple guards appeared in the Bottom Corner in a single season. * Katie is the one of the few contestants who was interviewed about her time on the Legends of the Hidden Temple. Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Layout XV Category:Artifacts Hidden in The Top Corner Category:Blue/Green/Purple/Silver Category:Green Monkeys vs. Silver Snakes Category:Green Monkeys Category:Male Going First Category:Team Run Category:Loss Category:2 Pendants Category:Ran out of time Category:Episodes with Altered Prize Plugs Category:Two Guards Encountered Category:Temple Game Shutouts